MADISON, WIS. -- Nick Herbig created a huge splash during his first year as a Badger. The Hawaii native started all seven games in 2020, tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (six) with inside linebacker Leo Chenal and registered 26 tackles.

That was without spring practices last year, though Herbig enrolled early to take advantage of winter conditioning in early 2020. In doing so, he experienced an unprecedented offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now with a season of spring ball, plus more conditioning at Wisconsin under his belt, Herbig believes he can become "a better all-around player."

"I feel like I need to be more of an impact on the defense," Herbig told reporters on Thursday. "I need to have more of a presence. You know, I need to make my presence felt, and I feel like I need to step into that this year."

Herbig mentioned that he trained with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles lineman Nate Herbig, this summer at Lane Johnson's "Bro Barn," which was recently featured in a Muscle & Fitness magazine feature.

The outside linebacker did not say how long he trained at Johnson's property, which Muscle & Fitness stated was in New Jersey, but recalled working out every day with a group of other NFL players besides his older brother. That included Green Bay Packers lineman Jon Runyan, Eagles Jason Kelce, Matt Pryor and Jalen Hurts and New Orleans lineman Cesar Ruiz.

"Everything was a competition, too," Herbig said. "Who could do the most weight, who had the best time."

Herbig stated it was "a whole different level," but he feels that helped him elevate his game.

"Seeing what it's like, being at that type of level," Herbig said, "it's two completely different levels of training and how you approach things, so I feel like it changed my mentality a little bit in how I approach workouts and how I approach playing the game."

UW designated Herbig at 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds on its 2021 fall roster earlier this week. He once again received first-team reps during spring football sessions open to reporters, and both cornerback Faion Hicks and inside linebacker Jack Sanborn mentioned him as a potential breakout player on the defense when talking with BadgerBlitz.com during Big Ten Media Days in July.

"'Herbie's' a beast, so I love that guy," Sanborn said on July 23.

Projections are sky high for Herbig at the moment, and his position coach appears to hold those as well. Outside linebackers coach Bobby April III told BadgerBlitz.com on Thursday that "it's time for Nick to live up to his expectations that we feel really confident that are the same as ours."

What should the expectations be for a second-year player who has had only one spring series of practices but looks to be another first-team contributor this year?

"Hard to pigeonhole a guy and tell him this is where their expectations are, but I do feel like he can be a top playmaker for our defense, and that's a high expectation, right?" April said. "If you go across the board on where our defense has been, that guy who makes tons of plays, he's probably our best player. Without saying it, that's kind of what I'm hoping."

Kayden Lyles still boasted the appearance of a typical Wisconsin lineman during Wisconsin's local media day on Thursday, but one could notice a change in his physique.

Lyles, the 6-foot-3 center entering his fifth year in the program, trimmed weight down from a listed 323 pounds on UW's spring camp roster to 312 on the one released by the program on Wednesday.

The Middleton, Wis., native recalled the process started after some self-reflection.

"So last year, I weighed in one day -- I don't think it really ever got it put into the books -- I was like 340 one day," Lyles told BadgerBlitz.com. "I just looked at myself in the mirror, I looked at myself on the film. I'm just not playing at the best of my ability, and so everybody always looks at offensive linemen, and you know, 'the bigger, the better,' and that's not really the case."

Lyles discussed with football performance dietician Sophie Pomrehn how he wanted to "to be able to cut out certain areas of my body," as he described it, and transform it. Pomrehn "was on board with it," according to the redshirt senior lineman, and for a period of time, he transitioned to a vegan diet for two months.

"I did a lot of research," Lyles said. "Me and Sophie sat down, and we found that there's a lot of pro athletes -- NFL, Olympians, a lot of people -- that are just vegan, and they feel great doing it. So for me, I gave it a shot. Went for two months, dropped a lot of weight. Dropped from 340 to 310, I think."

Lyles realized he needed to maintain the weight once he lost it, but with his experiences of adhering to that particular diet, he also began seeing food in a different light.

"I ate with a purpose," Lyles said. "I ate to know the nutrition value of it, not just eating just to get full, and so now I stay away from a lot of fast food. I try to be plant-based as much as possible, but still being able to get my protein quickly. So going through that experience has helped me a lot."

Lyles has played in 29 career games entering the 2021 season, which will be his second at center. He started the first four games at the position last year before tearing his MCL, fracturing his tibia and suffering a medial patellofemeral ligament (MPFL) strain against Indiana. Lyles practiced in the spring, and now he could help lead an upperclassmen-laden line that may boast four other fifth-year players.

Regarding his diet, Lyles eats meat again. However, he limits himself to fish and chicken while partaking in steak during rare instances. He continues to sit near that 310-pound range as fall camp starts on Friday.

"Once I got into that mindset to just really look at food differently, I was able to maintain," Lyles said. "So right now, I'm sitting at around that 310 to 312 [pound] range and just maintaining that while eating good."